


wolves without teeth

by xelated



Series: xelated snapped harder than thanos [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bisexual Peter Parker, Eating Disorders, F/F, F/M, Gay Harley Keener, Harley Keener centric, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Uncle Bucky Barnes, Wade is Clint and Nats pseudo child, Will cover Infinity War & Endgame, starts prior to both movies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-04-06 22:14:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19071736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xelated/pseuds/xelated
Summary: he understands why they leave.he’s easy to forget.





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> So say hey to this multi chapter story.  
> It’s Harley centric, it’ll cover both IW and Endgame.  
> -  
> Srry if this chapter is a lil all over the place

It was a Wednesday afternoon when he got the call.

The day had started off normally, the avengers milling around the tower floors, some training, some relaxing and some even cooking- namely Bucky. He had a problem, it was stress baking as Steve had dubbed it, and apparently it wasn’t a new thing but it wasn’t like many of them minded as they all got a ton of good food from it all while calming the ex-assassin down.

Tony’s phone has rung loud and clear echoing throughout the lounge

“Can someone get that- I’m kinda busy!” Tony yelled from the kitchen where he was patting out a small flame that had ignited thanks to Bucky leaving Steve to look over his cookies.

“I got it!” Clint yelled back dropping from the vent and grabbing Tony’s phone

“Yelloo?” Clint said as he answered the call

“Hello is this Tony Stark?”

“Um this is his phone but it’s Clint speaking on behalf of him, who’s this?” 

“This is New York police department” Clints eyes widened as he cupped his palm around the phone speaker 

“Tony what the hell did you do to piss of the NYPD?” 

“What? Nothing I can think of- just ask em you idiot” Clint nodded and placed the phone back near his ear

“What’s the nature of your call?” 

“We got someone here saying he knows Tony, we thought it was a hoax but now I’m thinking maybe not so much- look just tell Mr. Stark that we require his presence as soon as” 

“Will do” Clint hung up just as Tony emerged from the kitchen, the latter looked at the blonde expectantly 

“They say someone is asking for you down at the station, seemed urgent as they want you as soon as”

“Did they say who?” 

“Nope” and with that Clint clambered back up into the vent he’d dropped out of prior to the call leaving Tony to scramble through his memory of who the hell it could be.

 

“Hey Pep, I’m heading down to the police station” Tony called out as he started to make his way to the door

“Ok see you later- wait what?!” The click of Peppers heels could be heard a mile off and Tony froze as soon as he heard her “what the hell did you do?” She slapped Tony’s shoulder as soon as she was close enough 

“Ouch- What makes you think I did something?” Pepper looked at her fiancé incredulously “okay point taken, look I’ll see you back soon” Tony pecks Peppers cheek before leaving for his car which awaited him outside.

 

Upon arriving at the station he was met with one of the officers who led him to a room near the back which Tony was sure was an interrogation room. He was taken into the side where another officer stood looking in through the one way glass, before Tony had a chance to look though the same glass the officer caught his attention and quickly introduced himself as the officer who had called Tony. The officer who introduced himself as Jacob gestured to the glass and the person who sat on the other side.

It took Tony a moment before realisation kicked in. It was Harley. Harley Keener.

“So you know the kid?” 

“Yeah- Yeah I do” the officer seemed slightly surprised in the answer and Tony’s shock but nodded regardless “why’s he here? What did he do?” Jacob exhaled tiredly and crossed his arms over his chest

“Quite a lot if I’m honest” he turned his attention back to the teen “he’s been taken in multiple times for things like petty shoplifting, property damage, vandalism and even had to break up some fights he got into” 

“Why’s he here now though?” 

“Well the kid not only caused severe damage to a car but also smashed in his foster fathers shin” Tony’s head snapped to face Jacob

“Foster father?” The officer looked confused but explained 

“Yeah the kids been tossed around at least twelve foster homes and group homes as well as been kicked from eleven foster families for behavioural issues” 

“What kind of issues?” Tony asked carefully 

“Anger mostly. Most of them thought he had some anger issue in need of medication but nothing was ever confirmed, don’t think many even cared enough. I gotta say though I feel bad for the kid, he’s been dealt a rough dealin in his life so far” Tony’s mind was consumed by every possible scenario in which the kid could’ve faced “you wanna talk to him?” 

“Yeah, I would I mean it’s been long enough” Tony huffed out as he was shown the door to the room where that kid from Tennessee was sat.

Harley’s attention was taken by the sudden opening of the heavy door that had been firmly shut for around a hour at this point, his eyes widened slightly when Tony emerged from behind the door and Tony too still looked ever so slightly shocked at seeing the kid all grown up. Harley quickly composed himself and looked back down at his hands, one of which was handcuffed to the metal table after his first attempt at running out. Tony glanced down at said handcuffs before sitting down opposite Harley. Neither knew where to begin, they hadn’t spoken in years.

“Didn’t think you’d show” Harley spoke first

“Well here I am kid” Tony took in the small room whilst Harley massaged at his reddened wrist where the handcuffs had been put on too tightly. “What happened to your mom and sister” Tony decided to bite the bullet and almost regretted asking but to Harley’s credit he took it in his stride

“My mom died of alcohol poisoning around two years after you left, we got taken into foster care and Amber got adopted pretty much straight away” 

“Why didn’t you?” At this Harley scoffed 

“Because I was what they labelled a troubled child. I was mad, really mad. I mean everyone I ever looked up to- everyone who took a fucking moment to care about me pissed off in some way or another” he began to pick at the scratches on his knuckles 

“Harley I- god- I ain’t gonna sugarcoat it but that sucks” 

“Yeah I know. Don’t worry I’ve made peace with the fact no sane person out there’s gonna want me” Harley looked up to Tony and for the first time the older man got a good look at the teens face, he noticed the nasty gash that sat just above the kids right eye as well as the bruises that were scattered around it, he was also sure he could see a red tint in Harley’s hair but it was hard to tell since his hair was darker than it used to be. 

“What happens now?” 

“No idea, they asked me if there was anyone I could call and you were the only person in my contacts left. My social worker will probably be round here soon- probably fuming as well. I was supposed to keep my head down but I just-“ Harley stopped himself, he wasn’t ready for Tony to know- not yet. Tony nodded accepting the fact that if Harley wanted to tell him he would do it in his own time. Within the following hour he and Harley spoke of various things until Harley’s social worker Jeannette showed up- and as Harley predicted she was fuming, but not only that she seemed disappointed, something that didn’t sit well with Harley who diverted his attention from Jeanette almost immediately, Tony on the other hand greeted the woman before taking his leave giving a quick pat to Harley’s shoulder to which the boy flinched.

Tony left to go speak with Jacob again, after finding out how much Harley had been tossed around it made him feel guilty for not checking in after Harley went quiet- he figured the kid wanted nothing to do with him, thought he didn’t need him but he couldn’t have been more wrong. However before he could approach Jacob, Jeanette reappeared leaning on the wall with an exasperated sigh.

“Stupid kid” she mumbled before straightening up

“Tell me about it” Tony made himself known. After Jeanette’s mild flustered outbursts of ‘oh my god you’re Tony Stark’ they got to talking. After Jeanette had explained the situation and that Harley would be shoved into some emergency care until they found a permanent placement, Tony offered up the idea of Harley staying with him. He presented the obvious pros of the situation, he’d get a good education, he’d be fed, clothed, cared for, and most importantly Tony would try and keep the kid on track. At first Jeanette had been rather apprehensive around the idea but eventually agreed as long as Harley agreed, it was his choice at the end of the day.

Once the offer had been laid out for Harley the room became eerily silent, both adults awaiting Harley’s decision. Tony noticed the frown that etched its way into Harley’s face, the boys eyes darting from the table to his wrists to Tony’s hands which lay folded on top of one another on the table. 

“Okay” Harley finally spoke lifting his gaze to meet both Tony’s and Jeanette’s “I’ll do it” he clarified, Tony couldn’t but let out a breath of relief. Soon after, an officer came into the room and released Harley from his restraints but kept a trained eye on him for any signs that Harley would take off again. Tony was debriefed on what charges had been put against Harley and agreed to discuss them with him later, it was only moments later that Harley was sat in the back of Tony’s fancy car adorned with smooth jet black leather seats, even in the car Harley felt out of place. The ride back to the tower was silent, neither made any attempt to converse with one another and quite frankly neither knew what to say.

 

 

“So this will be your room, I’m just a floor up so if you need me just come knocking okay?” Harley nodded mutely and scanned around the room which was practically the size of his garage. “Look Harls” Harley raises a brow at the nickname but let it slide “you’re gonna have to tell me what happened sooner or later, and don’t try to bullshit me okay? Because I know your lying, we’re connected after all” Harley smiled lightly at the last words 

“I know” was all he said, Tony had a feeling he’d get nothing more out of the kid that day so he left his to settle in the room. 

Tony entered the lounge to be greeted by the expectant faces of his friends, Tony rolled his eyes and went to grab a cup of coffee, he couldn’t even think about explaining the whole situation before downing a cup of energy. Once the mug was set down in the sink he went to sit on the single seater across from the others. Tony went on to tell the others about who the kid was and why he was here- although he did spare the details of Harley’s most recent offence.

“Kids had it rough huh” Natasha spoke absentmindedly as she fiddled with her silver arrow necklace, Clint was silent whilst he expertly twirled an arrow between his fingers, Steve and Bucky were too silent as was Bruce, and Thor ceased his pacing.

“Right well I’ll let you all absorb that and for the love of god do not mention anything around those subjects around Harley okay?” And with that Tony left the lounge with Pepper trailing just behind.

Pepper paused just as she closed their bedroom door behind her,

“What you’re doing for Harley, it’s- it’s amazing” she said wholeheartedly, her fiancé turned to look at her with a small smile

“He’s an amazing kid, and I find it hard to believe that the world could be so cruel to such a great person” 

“How old did you say he was?” 

“Sixteen” Pepper gave Tony a look of ‘you know what I’m thinking of’ and Tony nodded “I’m sure he’d love to meet Harley some day” and that was all that was said that night until they were awoken by an alert from FRIDAY.

 

 

The alarm sounded at 3am and Tony woke with a slight gasp, Pepper pushed herself up to rest on her elbow sleepily

“Boss I must inform you that Mr. Keeners heart rate has elevated alarmingly fast” Tony practically fell out of his bed leaving a sleepy and confused Pepper behind, Tony rushed down the hallway clumsily and almost fell into various walls before almost crashing head first into the elevator. He was almost breathless once he stumbled into Harleys room, the latter boy was curled up on his floor beside his bed clutching at his shirt, his breathing was heavy and uneven. Tony sprang into action and crouched a little way away from Harley before coaxing the boy into trying to breathe steadily, Harley’s eyes remained unfocused so Tony grabbed the boys face in his hands and made him look at him.

“Breathe Harley okay? It’s me, it’s Tony, the mechanic. You gotta keep breathing just focus on me, focus on my voice” Harley’s breathes became slower and more even as Tony continued to talk softly to him and eventually Harley collapsed into the older mans arms. Tony could feel the poor boy shaking like a leaf but the more concerning issue was that he could feel Harley’s ribs very easily, however he dismissed it for the moment as he also felt Harley’s slim hands grip tightly and desperately to the back of his shirt. The pair stayed like that for a lengthy amount of time before Harley eventually pulled away, his eyes gave away how tired he was, not just physically but mentally too. His once bright blue eyes, full of life and fun were now dull and lifeless. 

“I’m-I’m sorry I-“ Harley’s voice was hoarse “I didn’t mean to wake you I just-“ 

“Hey it’s okay, I don’t mind alright? Anyway you’ve helped me through panic attacks it’s only right that I return the favour kid” Tony helped lift Harley back onto his bed “just get some sleep” Harley nodded and fell to his pillow, he was out almost instantly. 

 

The next morning Harley awoke to the bright sun attacking his eyes through the gaps at the sides of his blinds. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and prepared to hop out of bed but stopped abruptly once he saw Tony slumped by the side of his bed, his head resting on the edge of the mattress. Harley couldn’t help but smile, Tony had stayed by his side after his panic attack- the whole night. Harley carefully and quietly stepped around Tony and made his way to the kitchen, checking the clock on the wall to see it was only seven thirty. He found himself stopping again when he noticed someone already sat at the kitchen island eating some cereal, but he was hungry so he swallowed his nervousness down and went off in search of the cereal. The man sat at the island was none other than the winter soldier, James Barnes. Harley had heard stories but he went against others judgement and waited till he got to know the guy then he could make opinions. Buckys eyes tracked Harley as he slowly attempted to locate the bowls and cereal.

“Third draw down on the second unit kid” his gruff voice caused Harley to jump slightly but he followed the instructions regardless, then lo and behold there they were. Thanks to Buckys guidance he managed to get all he needed for his first proper breakfast in weeks. Bucky continued to watch Harley as he went about pouring a rather small portion of cereal into his bowl before adding a helping of milk. The teen sat a few seats away from the ex-assassin and began eating at a slow pace.

“Names Bucky” Harley looked up to said man who’s hair hung down by his face

“Harley” he replied politely

“Ah Starks kid” Harley nodded

“Yeah and you’re Captain America’s guy right?” Bucky chuckled lightly at this, his and Steve’s relationship had been officially outed a few weeks prior to Harley arriving, they’d been spotted in a restaurant and after the onslaught of questions they finally ripped off the band aid and admitted it- they were more surprised that people hadn’t seen it coming. Of course with their news came many negative opinions, mostly from people who believed America’s star spangled man being bisexual and in a relationship with a man wasn’t right or wasn’t the image that should represent their country. Despite these comments the two super soldiers took it in their stride and weren’t shameless with their relationship.

“I guess so” Bucky finished his current bowl of cereal before reaching for the box and serving himself even more, when Harley raised a quizzical eyebrow Bucky just shrugged “super soldiers need more food is all” with that answer Harley went back to eating. 

Steve came into the kitchen a little later, and before cooking his usual eggs and bacon he placed a soft kiss to his boyfriends temple, Bucky leaned into the touch and looked after Steve with a soppy smile plastered on his face- boy was he whipped. Steve and Harley also began talking and their sweet little conversation was only interrupted when Natasha came waltzing in around an hour after Harley appeared. She sipped at her coffee before standing behind Bucky and pulling his hair into a messy bun, Bucky promptly thanked her as he wasn’t the most well practiced at hair styling, Natasha responded with a small pat to his shoulder. Throughout the morning several avengers stumbled into the kitchen, some left whereas some stayed to chat and see who the new kid was. Tony was the lady to appear at around ten.

“Mornin where’s my coffee” was all he said and Pepper handed him a steaming mug of fresh coffee which he nursed in his hands from his place on the couch.

The morning moved slow and despite the amount of time Harley had to eat he still hadn’t managed to finish his cereal, this didn’t go unnoticed by Bucky who watched the teen with a slight suspicion.

Harley excused himself but not before Tony told him to meet in his lab whenever he was ready.

 

Harley would be lying if he said he wasn’t at all worried about what conversation was about to take place. 

 


	2. II

Harley ended up pacing up and down his rather large room for around 20 minutes. It wasn’t that talking to Tony was bad- it was the subject matter that worried him. He’d done a lot of bad things, things that he’d wished Tony never found out about, but this particular offence was serious. He’d caused actual physical harm to an adult and trashed a very expensive car- not that he really regretted it- but he was worried Tony would look down on him for it. 

Harley groaned and collapsed onto his bed running a hand through his damp hair. He sat for a moment more before jumping up and forcing himself to the elevator, FRIDAY took him down to the floor where Tony’s lab sat and Harley briefly noted the location although it’d be easy to find due to Tony’s need for music as he works. Harley stood just outside the lab and his confidence dwindled but before he could even psych himself up Tony called out to him

“Just get your butt in here Keener I ain’t gonna bite” Tony chuckled lightly as he tinkered with his iron man gauntlet, he swirled his chair around to face a fidgety Harley. He gestured for Harley to sit on the vacant couch in the lab as he cleaned his hands of oil. 

“So I know your probably wanting to be all secretive but I need you to tell me what happened, and the whole truth not just the half assed explanation you gave everyone else okay? Cool now it’s all you. Take your time because I have literally got all day” Tony plopped down onto the chair and looked to Harley expectantly, Harley hesitated wondering wether or not he could make up some elaborate lie but he was talking to Tony Stark- king of elaborate lies. There was no escaping it so he crumbled under the gaze of Tony and let it all flood out.

 

—

 

Harley had returned home from the shitty school he went to, shitty being a key word. The place barely had any decent teachers, the building was falling apart at every corner and not to mention the facilities were all either broken or useless. 

Harley threw his tattered bag onto his mattress- yes mattress. This place didn’t even have a proper bed for him. He made his way down to the kitchen to start dinner knowing that neither Michael nor Kelly would make anything, Harley did prepare a second portion of what little food he did have for the other kid under the adults care, a young lad -around 11 years old- named Jack. He was a sweet kid, grew up with no mother and a crap father, social services struggled to get in touch with the kids uncles since they were pretty much MIA. Harley went to pick up Jack from the bus stop just down the road before he finished dinner, Jack was in high spirits as always but his mood significantly darkened once the house came into view.

Regardless of the kids’ sour moods they both sat and enjoyed the little meal of spaghetti and meatballs. Food was incredibly sparse in the house, Harley was used to it and often gave Jack some of his food. Although Harley had once fainted due to the lack of food in his system but was better after a free sandwich from the nurse, she’d looked at him sceptically as he assured her that he was fine but let him go on his way. 

It was at eight in the evening when Michael and Kelly stumbled in, the stench of alcohol made Harley frown in disgust. After his mother anything and everything to do with alcohol irked him. The drunk adults were loud and clumsy as they collapsed onto the worn couch.

“Get me a beer” Michael grunted to Jack, being the kid he was, he scurried off to the kitchen before Harley could stop him, upon returning Michaels hand was outstretched making a grabbing motion to the boy. Jack hurried over and placed the beer bottle into the mans hand only letting go once he was sure the man had a grip on it, at first he did, but being the dumb drunk he was Michael dropped the bottle letting it smash onto the floor causing Jack to jump back. Michael slowly pulled himself up from his seat and stomped over to the young boy shoving him to the ground “you dumb fuck!” He growled, Harley quickly flew into action putting himself between the two subsequently getting whacked in the head. He felt a hand grab his shirt and throw him to the floor. “And you! Stay out of what isn’t your business you damn punk” and with that Harley was left with a kick to the ribs, only wincing when he heard Jacks cry of pain. As soon as Michael stalked off into the kitchen Harley hauled himself and Jack off the floor and dashed to their room.

“I’m so sorry Jack- I- I should’ve done more” Harley rambled, in response jack wrapped his small arms around Harley’s neck and held on tight, the latter returned the gesture and the two stayed like that for god knows how long before eventually falling asleep.

 

Harley managed to get himself and Jack out of the house without any problems but it was when they got home that Harley really lost it. He’d gone to his room to finish fixing up a little robot Tony had supplied him with all those years ago, but instead of finding it in its usual place under his bed behind the dusty books he found it smashed up on his floor. Harley darted our of his room and to the lounge where Michael was strewn lazily across the couch. Harley paused trying to contain himself 

“You broke it” he spoke lowly, Michael chuckled deeply in response 

“What? Your stupid little toy? Did I make you mad” when Harley didn’t reply Michael stood up and advances upon the teen “that’s what I thought” he huffed before falling back to the couch. Harley swiftly left to his room and grabbed his baseball bat from his closet and slipped into the garage which was found a couple doors down from his room. 

Harley stood in front of Michaels well kept car and raised his bat before swinging it full force into the wing mirror- knocking it clean off. It clattered to the floor and Harley took another swing, yelling angrily as he did it. He didn’t care anymore, he didn’t care what happened to him. He after hit, the car became dented and scratched, the windows smashed in, the paint peeling. He only stopped when he felt a heavy hand grab onto his shoulder and pull him around roughly. Harley came face to face with an outraged Michael. The older man shoved Harley against the smashed car, he felt the Tony shards of glass press into his skin but couldn’t bring himself to care as he stared unfazed into the mans eyes. 

“What the hell have you done?!” He yelled, the strong smell of alcohol made Harley’s eyes water, 

“You break my shit I break yours” Harley said through gritted teeth, Michael didn’t hesitate to yank the bat out of the teens hands before ramming the end of it into Harley’s face causing him to crumble to the ground. The bat dropped to the floor as Michael continued to kick Harley in the ribs eventually even landing a kick to the back of his head which was already bleeding. Harley gasped at the harsh contact and threw his arm out and tried to search for the fallen bat, he latched onto the handle before swinging it doubly hard at Michaels shin, he heard a crack before and pulled himself off the floor as the man held his shin and cried out in pain. Harley stumbled out of the garage and burst into Jacks room, Jack stared wide eyed at him but followed regardless. The pair only made it to the end of the drive when Michael came limping out, the cops also arrived seconds later due to a disturbance call from the neighbours. Michael didn’t hesitate to tell the cops what Harley did, to him and his car. When trying to get an answer from Harley he gave none, so he was hauled into the cop car with Jack and off to the station they went. Whilst Harley was taken to the interrogation room, Jack was taken to the front office where his social worker would pick him up. They didn’t part without saying a rather solemn goodbye followed by a promise to one day see each other again. 

Harley proceeded to try escape the station which led to his getting handcuffs put on him- very tightly. Then came the questions, then came Tony.

 

—

 

Harley lowered head as he waited for a response. He waited for the ‘get out’ but it never came. Instead Tony pulled him into a hug, Harley carefully returned the gesture, wincing slightly because of the pressure on his ribs.

“Shit I should have gotten you checked out straight away- right we gotta go to medical okay?” Tony pushed Harley back by his shoulders and stared at him with such concern it startled the younger boy who just nodded and let Tony guide him to the elevator and up to medical. 

Up in medical sat none other than Bucky Barnes. He was up there for his monthly mental examination as well as the check up on his arm. Bucky twisted around to see who’d entered and couldn’t help the frown that came upon his face once he saw Harley.

“The hell happened?” Bucky inquired, not unkindly.

“Well this dumbass” Tony looked pointedly at Harley as he gestured for the teen to sit down on the bed “decided not to tell me about the possible concussion he may have or the bruised and or broken ribs-“

“you never asked!” Harley interjected, Buckys lips quirked into a small smile, those two were too alike.

“Just sit there and I’ll get someone alright kid?” And with that Tony strolled out of the room, Harley tentatively lifted his shirt to get a better look at what had actually happened to him. He felt Buckys calculating eyes practically pierce though him

“What” he said shortly 

“Looks like you’ve been in the wars kid”

“somethin like that” Harley mumbled

“Spill. What happened” Harley had half a mind to refuse the request but he believed he could trust Bucky, he didn’t know why, but he did, so he told him. 

Once Harley fell into silence he began massaging his sore red wrists, wincing slightly at the pain of the raw skin.

“Handcuffs right?” Harley nodded 

“You got personal experience?”

“Well when you’re a wanted assassin they tend to be a little bit more aggressive when you’re caught” Buckys face held an aura of regret which did not go unnoticed by Harley. 

“You don’t seem very deadly to me” 

“Yeah well Starks been trying to unscramble my brain, get Hydras hold on me obliterated” 

“I remember reading about you” Harley said rather out of the blue, Bucky looked at him questioningly so Harley continued “you were Captain America’s best friend, his right hand man, the only howling commando to die in service. An unsung hero in my opinion, whilst everyone else was fawning over Steve I focused on what you did. The way you talk about what happened, you make it out like you don’t deserve to be here, sure Steve was a national hero but you were a hero too” Bucky stared wide eyed at Harley, unsure on how to respond. Luckily for the man he didn’t have to as Tony came back into the room with a doctor in tow, Bruce also followed but split from the other two in favour of completing Buckys assessment. 

“Right then Harley let’s take a look at your head”

 

 

Tony sat in a chair beside Harley’s bed as Helen checked over his head, it was confirmed that he had a minor concussion due to being slammed back against a hard surface with such force, Helen never asked for every detail- only the necessary ones. Bucky subtly listening to all the conclusions drawn from Harley’s state from his place across the room. Harley had lifted his shirt over his head carefully so he could avoid as much pain as possible. Helen began to press down around the bruised areas as Harley laid down. Everyone in the room was startled when the door slammed open revealing a disheveled looking Peter, his backpack hanging precariously off of his shoulder.

“Peter what are you doing here?” Tony asked as Helen went back to checking over Harley’s ribs but the latter was too invested in the arrival of the mysterious boy hence Helen having to snap her fingers in front of his face to grab his attention, Harley halfheartedly shook his head his eyes set on the interaction between Tony and Peter. 

“Well- I thought- FRIDAY said you were in medical so I thought that- I don’t know- I just- I was worried” Peter finally settled, eyes flicking over to the shirtless and severely bruised teen laying in the medical bay, Harley all of a sudden felt incredibly exposed his rambling thoughts cut off by a sharp pain 

“Fuck-“ he gasped as Helen prodded at the very tender area of his bruising. Tony quickly whipped away from Peter and focused on Harley 

“You good Harls?” Harley nodded shakily in response, biting his lip in an attempt to hold back his pain. 

“Yeah- Just painful is all” Harley tried a laugh but failed miserably as he flopped back into the firm pillows behind him and screwed his eyes shut “so care to introduce me to bambi over there Tony?” At this the man seemed to snap back into reality and rubbed his hands together 

“Right yes. Ok Harley this is Peter and Peter this is Harley” 

“I’m gonna need more old man” 

“Watch it kid” Tony warned playfully “Peter’s my intern, well intern slash Spider-Man” Peters eyes widened comically 

“Mr Stark! I- what” he stuttered in shock

“It’s fine, Harley isn’t gonna tell anyone are ya?” 

“I’ve got nobody to tell dipshit” Harley growled in response, the pain in his head and ribs together was not a pleasant experience. 

“Hey Harls I gotta go check on some work stuff but I’ll see you later yeah? Hey Barnes keep an eye on him” Tony squeezed Harley’s shoulder lightly before making his exit giving Bucky one last look on his way out. Peter stared at the bruised skin on Harley’s stomach one more time and with a sigh he left the room too. 

“What happened?” Peter inquired as soon as he’d caught up to Tony.

“Stuff. Stuff I can’t tell you about” Peter nodded in understanding but he didn’t stop asking questions. 

“How’d you know him?” 

“Met him way back in the mandarin incident. You know when everyone thought I was dead. The kid helped me rebuild my iron man suit, he did so much for me and I just left him” the deep set guilt showed through both Tony’s voice and body language- namely the incessant scratching of the palm of his hand, a nervous tick he’d adopted a while back.

“I’m sure he doesn’t blame you” 

“He should”

 

 

Tony finished up his work as fast as he could, Peter noticed the rushed nature of his mentor and couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. Tony was never like this with him, he wouldn’t rush his work to visit him in medical or wherever after a tricky mission so why was this Harley so special? Peter would’ve asked Tony but the guy was already tugging on his jacket and making his way out to find Harley. Peter sighed and continued to tinker with the Spider-Man web shooter. 

Peter remained in the lab for a further hour, the low hum of the various machines was drowned out by the music flowing through the speakers dotted around the room. Peter was absorbed in his work but was pulled from it when he heard a light knock on the glass door, Peter set down his web shooter and turned around- almost dropping his screwdriver once he saw Harley stood in the doorway and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t find Harley attractive. The taller teen smiled sheepishly at the fumbling boy and took it as confirmation to enter. Peter stood and held his hand out 

“I’m Peter. Parker. But you knew that already so” before Peter dropped his hand out of sheer embarrassment Harley took hold of it and smiled 

“Harley Keener” they remained linked together until Peter coughed awkwardly, released Harley’s hand and twirled back towards his bench. “So” Harley began, his eyes travelling across the lab, landing on different finished and unfinished work “How’d ya meet Tony?” It was an innocent enough question but it still held an underlying tone of judgment

“Well he kinda just turned up in my apartment. Walked right in and he was just sat on my couch with my aunt”

“Seems like he’s got a thing for crashing into people’s homes unannounced” Peter chuckled lightly at this and it brought a small smile to Harley’s face. 

“Yeah I suppose he does” Peter set down the random screw he was fiddling with and took a seat by the bench before kicking the other swivel chair over to Harley who easily stopped it and took a seat. That was how Tony found the boys around two hours later, just sitting and chatting like they had all the time in the world. 

 

Over the course of the next week Peter and Harley continued to get closer, spending a large chunk of time on the labs, Peter with his Spider-Man gear and Harley with his own little secret project that he refused to let anyone know the full extent of. Harley also sparked up a relationship with Bucky and Clint who were ready to help with any shenanigans the teen would want to play- well Clint was more on board than Bucky most of the time but he soldier tended to cave after a little persuading. 

Harley had also gotten to meet Clint and Natasha’s pseudo child Wade, the two of them had spent hours talking of missions Wade had been on. Wade was 18 and despite being a year older than Harley it was like he was a damn god in comparison, he’d done such crazy things- been to such amazing places, all whilst dealing with his schizophrenia which Harley thought was pretty darn incredible that he still managed to get on with his superhero-y ways even with a mental condition which the guy seemed to easily take in his stride.

On another note it’d taken Harley a mere two days to convince Bucky to teach him some combat moves. During their first session of training Bucky had been surprised at the kids raw talent, he’d could land punched pretty hard despite them being far and few between. Harley had simply stated that he’d had experience in throwing a few punches, Bucky didn’t push any further. Tony had burst in on Harley and Bucky training one time which led to the billionaire dragging the teen out of the gym and lecturing him about safety and some other crap Harley didn’t bother remembering. He’d eventually gotten Tony to let him carry on but only after Tony told him to keep his injures in check.

As each day passed, from spending time in the gym to messing about with Peter in the labs, Harley began to feel like he finally had a safe place, a family.

 

It felt as if nothing could hurt this little family that’d been built up, Harley couldn’t have been more wrong.


	3. III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for any typos  
> \- only a chapter or two before IW comes into play

To say Harley was excited to finish his secret project was an understatement. He’d spent the past weeks working on his project and successfully hiding it from prying eyes, which was quite difficult considering Tonys nosy nature. Alas he’d finally hit the end of the road, Harley had taken his work out to the roof and fastened it around his wrist. He took a deep breathe and shuffled his way to the edge of the building, unbeknownst to the boy, FRIDAY had just informed Tony that Harley was on the roof and was making his way to the edge. Tony tripped over himself just to get to the elevator and stumbled through the door to the roof just as Harley stepped off the ledge

“No!” Tony yelled running to the space where Harley had just been but as he peered over the edge something whooshed past him knocking him straight on his arse. A faint ‘woohoo’ could be heard far up in the sky, Tony looked up to see Harley flying around in what looked to be an iron man suit- but it wasn’t, well not one of Tonys making anyway. Once Harley landed Tony felt like he could breathe again.

Whilst Tony recovered from his almost heart attack, a few floors below Peter had dropped his screwdriver as he saw something whiz past his window. 

“The fu-“ 

 

“The fuck was that Keener?!” Tony yelled, Harley retracted the helmet of his suit, a grin plastered upon his face “no okay this is not funny!” Harley couldn’t help but laugh “for gods sake Keener zip it!” Tony jabbed a finger at Harley’s chest, the latter promptly settled down. Tony let out an exasperated sigh and dragged his hand down his face “What the hell is this?” Tony gestured to the suit which encapsulated Harley

“It’s my secret project” Tony raised his eyebrow as a signal to explain “well being here and living with you all means that some day dangers gonna come my way do I’d rather be prepared to fight than to cower in a damn corner because I can’t protect myself” a look of realisation hit Tony’s face 

“That’s why you were so insistent on training with Barnes” 

“Yeah” Tony took a moment to look the suit up and down, a smile soon took its place on his lips

“I gotta say this is a good suit”

“Yeah well I did kinda use nanotech for it and added in those retro reflective panels for-“

“Stealth mode” Tony finished with a grin “so where does it store itself?” Harley held a finger up before bringing his wrist up and tapping on it twice, the suit swiftly packed itself into the black band around his wrist, a blue panel in the centre of the band- shaped and designed much like the arc reactor that was in Tony’s chest- glistened just as all of the suit had been stored “that is incredible kid” Tony beamed with pride but this pride left as quickly as it came “but I’m still mad about you jumping off a damn roof okay?”

“Okay” Harley nodded, Tony wrapped an arm around Harley’s shoulders 

“My god you’re tall” Tony chuckled 

“It has been like 6 years old man” Tony’s smile faltered but just pulled Harley in tighter and smiled.

 

 

Upon returning to the lounge Tony and Harley were met with a sprinkling of the avengers, namely: Steve, Bucky, Nat, Clint and Peter. All stood there with expectant expressions, all demanding an answer as to why Tony rushed off through the tower. 

“Tony here got a little fright when I walked off the roof edge” Harley spoke nonchalantly, removing himself from Tony’s hold and going to the kitchen which was joined with the lounge. He took a bite out of a cookie and looked up to see a varying amount of looks headed his way. Peter, Steve and Bucky looked worried whilst Nat and Clint looked mildly impressed leaving Tony to look on with exhaustion.

“Yeah kid almost gave me a heart attack” 

“Wait- you jumped off the roof? What the hell Harley?!” Peter grabbed a hold of the taller teens shirt and pulled him down to look him in the eyes, it was only now that Harley began to lose him composure and looked rather apologetic. 

“I- well i-“ Peter hummed aggressively as he waited for a coherent answer “the project I’ve been working on, I was testing it out” 

“On the roof?” Peters voice cracked 

“Uh- Yeah?” Harley replied sheepishly, Peter finally let go of Harley’s shirt and huffed waving his arm out 

“Let’s see it then. Let’s see the project that warranted you jumping off of a building” Peter crosses his arms and stood back, the others in the room too looked on to see what the ‘secret project’ was. Just as before, Harley tapped twice on the circular blue panel on his wrist and within seconds the suit enveloped his body in his custom made suit. Everyone’s eyes widened, Peter choked on air as he tried to grasp at what he’d just seen

“What- did Mr Stark help you?” 

“Nope” Harley grinned retracting the helmet once again

“That’s awesome” was all Peter could reply with

“Loving the paint job on it kid” Bucky complimented, the red stood out nicely against the black, the pattern remained similar to Tony’s but the gold being replaced with the black and a white reactor in the chest powered the suit.

“Thanks” Harley became rather self conscious as all these hero’s stood and stared, although when he looked at Clint he couldn’t help but suppress a laugh. The guy was stood slack jawed, eyes wide, with his arrow slipping from his fingers. 

Harley coughed nervously before tapping the wrist band again. Shortly after everyone went back to their own thing but just as Harley was about to retreat to his room, Tony pulled him down a different corridor stopping mid way down.

“Look, if you’re serious about being able to defend yourself and all then I’ll help you out” Harley nodded thoughtfully

“I know I said I wanted to make the suit to protect myself but what if I wanted to help people too. Like you and Peter do” he finished quietly 

“Then I’d say that I’ll support you in that decision, but you’ve got to promise me that you’ll take care of yourself and don’t think I won’t be modifying an AI in your suit okay?” 

“Okay” Harley felt a new sense of purpose overtake him. Tony suddenly snapped his fingers 

“I almost forgot, I got an email today about the charges your foster dad put forward and he wants to take you to court for the damage done to his shin and car. A court date has been set for two weeks time so I just wanted to let you know” Harley nodded numbly and felt himself slipping again. He knew one of his times was coming. He didn’t want Tony to find out so he quickly- as quickly as his body could take him- made his way down to his room, hearing the muffled calls from Tony in his ears.

 

Harley crashed through his doors and shut them as soon as he could, he felt himself get further and further away, eventually he fell to the floor and lay flat on his back letting the numbness take over. His vision became dark and he tried to focus on the light above him but just couldn’t do it, he gripped onto the rug he lay half on and half off, his fingers shaking as he raked his hands across the soft material. Harley briefly heard his door open and close but his mind was drifting further away, he thought he heard someone say his name but then again he thought he heard many things during his times. 

He spent what felt like an eternity trying to grasp back onto the single thread of reality which felt as if it was just out of reach, but that thread seemed to suddenly boost itself closer towards him once he felt a light pressure on his left hand. Harley cracked open his eyes as he felt himself slot back into his own body and looked down towards his hand which wasn’t laying alone, instead he saw another hand interlocked with his own. Harley shifted his gaze up to find the owner of said hand to be none other than Peter, he stared confusedly at Peter until the boy looked over to him. 

“Are you back?” He asked softly and Harley felt himself nod shortly, Peter frowned slightly and just held Harley’s hand tighter. Harley found it oddly comforting, he’d never had or felt something like this except with Amber and Jack but even then that was more of responsibility and it was never really for his benefit, but this was. 

After a few minutes of concentrating on the feeling of both the carpet and warmth of Peters hand, Harley finally felt himself gain back control. He breathed out a shaky breath and turned to look at Peter again giving him a quick smile which Peter returned. They slowly got themselves up and Peter helped Harley to sit on his bed, their hands never left one another. The boys sat in silence, a comfortable one at that, 

“How did you know what to do?” Harley asked quietly 

“My old friend Harry had dissociative disorder”

“But how did you-“ Harley trailed off

“I saw you rushing down the hall and you had that vacant look in your eyes I guess, besides I recognise the symptoms when I see them and coming in to find you laying on the floor solidified my theory” Harley felt Peters thumb trace across the back of his hand and let himself treasure that feeling of warmth and comfort. 

Not much was said in the hours following, then again not much needed to be said. The presence of one another was enough to keep both boys satisfied.

 

 

By the end of the week Tony was finally allowed Harley to go out on his first official patrol. He’d been training daily with Bucky and Natasha as well as improving his suit with the help of Tony. 

“I’ll be fine old man” Harley said cheekily as Tony repeated the same lecture he’d been giving all week

“Seriously kid be careful” Tony said more seriously, his hand squeezing Harley’s shoulder meaningfully 

“I’ll be okay Tony, I promise” with a sharp nod Tony turned to Peter and gave him the same talk he gave him every night before patrol. Harley made his way up to the roof and took a moment to breathe. He took in the scenery of New York’s skyline and just focused on the light breeze whipping past him. 

“Right then Keener, let’s do this” he said to himself before stepping off of the ledge just as he had done days prior. Two taps on the band and he was away.

 

Patrol was rather quiet that night aside from a mugging and an attempt at assault, the city was pretty calm for New York standards. Once the clock hit 1am Harley retreated back to the Towers roof where he spotted Peter sat, mask in hand. 

“Waiting up for me Pete?” Harley teased lightly. Peter looked at him tiredly but smiles none the less

“Course, it’s your first patrol Harls, what kinda friend would I be if I didn’t check to see you got back with all your limbs because unlike Wade you can’t grow them back” Peter pointed a finger at Harley who grabbed it 

“It’s rude to point Parker” 

“Shut up” Peter mumbled pulling Harley back into the tower. Once in the elevator Peter looked to Harley “but seriously how was it?” 

“It was pretty quiet, but fun” his answer seemed to satisfy the sleepy teenager who rested his head against the elevator wall until they reached their floor.

Peter and Harley went their separate ways once they reached the floor where their bedrooms were. The whole night Harley couldn’t help but feel incredibly grateful to not only have been given a place to stay but also to have been introduced to such a wonderful human being that would most likely always put others before himself.

 

 

The following patrols went pretty smoothly except one in particular night when he had quite a close run in with a burglar. However patrolling was taking a back seat this week, his court date was just around the corner and while Harley knew that breaking Michaels shin was in pure self defense, smashing up his car was what could fuck it all up. Harley found himself spending more time in his room, he drifted further away from Peter, Tony and Pepper, the only person he’d actually spoken to recently was Bucky. It was because he understood what it was like to mess up big- and whilst Buckys mistakes were on a much larger scale, it still comforted him to know he wasn’t alone. 

“Come one kid you’ve gotta talk to them, or at least talk to Parker” Bucky pleaded as he sat on the too small for him chair opposite Harley.

“Why Peter?”

“Because the guys been all jittery and he’s gotten this lost puppy look in his damn eyes and it’s getting slightly nauseating” this brought a small smile to Harley’s face as he fiddled with a small screwdriver

“Really?” Bucky nodded, Harley ceased his fiddling, and looked to the door thoughtfully before pushing himself off his bed and walking through the door. It was only a few seconds before Harley poked his head around the door again

“He’s on the roof” Bucky supplied with a chuckle, Harley nodded 

“Right thanks” and off he went. 

 

Peter was easily found sat with his legs dangling over the side of the building 

“You’re gonna fall off if you’re not careful” Peter jumped ever so slightly before turning to see Harley with his hands stuffed in his pockets, his hair falling in his face. Peter jerked his head to the empty space beside him and looked back out to the skyline, Harley carefully sat himself down being careful not to tip off the edge. The two of them sat in a semi comfortable silence, the only sound coming from the busy streets below.

“I’m sorry” Harley broke through the silence, Peter nodded 

“It’s okay” he replied, “but I just wanna know if I did something wrong?” Harley snapped his head around to look at the brunette 

“What? No, you did nothing wrong it’s just me being worried is all. I kinda have a tendency to isolate myself when shit happens” Peter stared at Harley, a light frown on his face 

“What’s got you so worried?” Peter asked, his gaze not leaving Harley’s face, said boy swallowed nervously 

“I’m being taken to court” Peters eyes widened, 

“Why? What did you do?”

“My last foster family..” Harley began 

“You don’t have to tell me” 

“No, no I know that, but I want to tell you. In my last foster home my foster father Michael was kind of a dick” he let out a humourless laugh “he got real rough with me and my little foster brother Jack, and one day I came back from school to find my latest project broken. So I took my baseball bat and smashed up his car” Harley paused when he felt Peters hand lay on top of his own and the light squeeze that followed. “He got mad. Understand obviously, he threw me around a bit and that’s why my ribs were so fucked up. I may have also taken a bat to his shin and broken it.” Harley finished quietly 

“Wow okay, um was not expecting that if I’m honest. But it was self defence, they’d have to be stupid not to see that”

“The problem is that I’m a foster kid who’s been chucked out of like 12 homes, most of which were group homes so take that against a man from a street full of people who all support him and never gave me or Jack a second look” 

“You’re gonna beat this guy Harley, I just know it” Peter said reassuringly and the pair of boys lapsed into a more comfortable silence, Peters hand never left Harley’s.

 

“You know when you first arrived I was super jealous” 

“Seriously?” Harley stared at Peter incredulously

“Yep, I mean Mr Stark was always running to you whenever something happened and I guess I just felt... jealous, I know it’s dumb” 

“It’s not dumb, I guess I’d feel like that too if a random guy just turned up like I did” 

“I’m jealous anymore though because I realised I really like you Harley, I mean you’re one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, you don’t judge me for all the nerdy stuff I do- you like a lot of what I do and it’s so cool to have someone to work with in the lab- not that Mr Stark is bad to work with it’s just-“

“Having someone closer to your age?” Harley finished for him 

“Yeah” Peter breathed out with a slight smile. 

“You know I really like you too Peter, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so normal or- or happy” Peter gave all his attention to Harley and in that moment it was like nothing else mattered. Peters gaze flickered between Harleys bright eyes and his slightly parted lips, soon enough Peter leant in and closed the space between himself and Harley. Harley leant into the kiss so it came as a surprise when he suddenly pushed Peter back looking at the shorter teen with wide eyes 

“I- I can’t” Harley choked out, he scrambled away from the edge and from Peter leaving the doe eyed boy frozen and alone.

Peter bit his lip, willing himself not to cry, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath but nothing he did would ease the ache that grew in his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for any typos  
> -  
> Comments & Kudos are greatly appreciated :)


End file.
